Felicia Fredlund

Writer. Editor. Reader.

Blog

Great Web Comic: XKCD by Randall Munroe

Posted:

This series of posts are about entertainment that I recommend when people ask me for recommendations. It also includes place-specific “entertainment”, such as beautiful gardens; it might be stretching the definition of entertainment, but I enjoy myself in the places I recommend.

They are not universal recommendations. I wouldn’t recommend a dark thriller to someone looking for something nice and happy; I’d recommend a romance.

They aren’t perfect or without mistakes.

Art is never finished, only abandoned. ~ Leonard da Vinci

XKCD by Randall Munroe

I don’t remember who introduced me to XKCD, a webcomic I’ve enjoyed immensely for years, even if I don’t always understand them.

There is a lot of physics, maths, and other sciences, but I read for the humor and the cutely funny ones. I also do find the science ones interesting, at least when I understand them!

The one thing to know is that after you finish reading the comic, you should hover your mouse over it and read the text that pops up. Those are the best.

The comic is made by Randall Munroe.

A few years back I bought a couple of the comics in print. I can share those comics here, Munroe allows it, and I will share my absolute favorite, but for the others, I’d rather link so you can potentially go down the rabbit hole of the wonderful and sciency weird.

Jealousy

XKCD Loves the Discovery Channel

Lastly I want to share one that kinda transcends the comic format. I was reading XKCD regularly when this one came out, so I got to follow it in real time. It is called Time and is more like a cartoon/animated movie, except you can pick the pace yourself, or let it go through the many many frames automatically.

Click the play button in the top left to let it run with some pauses on key frames. You can adjust the speed in the same area. Or you can step through the frames with your arrow keys or the buttons in the top right.

Have fun with this last one. I have no idea how long he worked on that one, but it is long.

Urban Fantasy Added to the Roster

Posted:

My new release this month is an urban fantasy story. I’ve read urban fantasy for many years and love writing it too. And now I get to share it.

Here is the description:

As a valkyrie, Tyra escorts the souls of Swedish soldiers who died in combat to Valhalla. In this twenty-first century, she barely works because Sweden has not been at war for a long, long time.

When taking a soldier’s soul to Valhalla, Tyra unwillingly talks to Loki when he seeks her out. Right then, she feels the call from another soul.

Her turn for another calling should not have come that quickly, but off she goes despite her bad feeling.

You can buy it here as an ebook.

Next month is October, meaning Halloween. Which means horror movies, horror games, and horror books, right?

Except, I think more about the sun leaving, cozy lamps and candles lit in the evening. A chill to the air that livens up my skin. Trees in beautiful fall colors.

I can’t wait!

Great Movie: Die Hard and Die Hard 4.0

Posted:

This series of posts are about entertainment that I recommend when people ask me for recommendations. It also includes place-specific “entertainment”, such as beautiful gardens; it might be stretching the definition of entertainment, but I enjoy myself in the places I recommend.

They are not universal recommendations. I wouldn’t recommend a dark thriller to someone looking for something nice and happy; I’d recommend a romance.

They aren’t perfect or without mistakes.

Art is never finished, only abandoned. ~ Leonard da Vinci

Die Hard and Die Hard 4.0

My movie taste runs primarily action. And a classic action movie that I like to rewatch regularly is Die Hard. I also love rewatching Die Hard 4.0 (while double checking the name of Die Hard 4.0 (as I know it), I learned that the North American name for the movie was Live Free or Die Hard).

(Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a Vengeance (3), and A Good Day to Die Hard (5) are also good, but if I’m not planing to rewatch all Die Hards, I always pick 1 or 4.)

I don’t know that there is much to say about Die Hard (1) that hasn’t already been said.

Christmas, great action, and fun interplay between characters.

Basically feel good with explosions.

Instead I’ll talk about Die Hard 4.0. If I have to pick between watching 1 or 4, I might actually pick 4 because it hits a few more of my favorite things.

I like hacker/action movies.

So what 4 adds is a sidekick that I find funny, a bit sweet, and just the right amount of snark/wit. There are also strong women, a villain that is very Die Hard, and one specific one-liner from the sidekick that I love.

I watch action movies for relaxed fun. Give me some entertaining characters and great action and I’m good. That is what I look for in my action movies. So if that is your thing, Die Hard (all of them) are a good choice.

Picture of the Month — September 2018

Posted:

Pretty-lake-at-sunset_judarn-2017
So pretty…

This photo is quintessential Sweden. Sweden have many, many lakes, and forest is also very plentiful. This is from a nature preserve close to my childhood home.

A beautiful place where I can always find calm.

This was taken on a walk in May, 2017.

Dear Brother Out as Ebook

Posted:

Dear Brother is one of my first published short stories and it is now out as an ebook. If you’ve ever wanted to pick it up to read on your device of choice, now you can.

For those who don’t know, Dear Brother is a contemporary short story about dealing with grief.

Here is the description:

A cold and wet autumn makes a visit to the graveyard uncomfortable for twenty-something Silas Stone.

Nothing he notices. Not when more important matters are at hand.

His brother had died with things still unresolved between them.

You can buy it here as an ebook. No other kind of version is available yet, but might be in the future.

On to other things, the first “Great X” (where X = type of entertainment) came out a couple of weeks ago; posted in the Reader category.

These posts won’t always be about books (as the first one), but I hope you’ll enjoy a glimpse into my favorite entertainment and perhaps you’ll even find something you’d like to try.

I’ll see on the first for September’s Picture of the Month!